Ryan S.

On the surface, Chestnut Hall would probably warrant a 3.5-4 star review if not for the management/$6B market-cap public company that runs the place (AIMCO-Apartment Investment and Management Co Real Estate Trust). The management company turns what could be a 4 star experience into a zero star experience through potentially illegal, rent-seeking activities which, tbh, hurts them much more than helps them in the long-run. With a few key changes, Chestnut Hall could be a great place! But, as it is today, I would highly recommend looking elsewhere for an apartment.The place: the building/facility is in good condition and an excellent example of the 1920s art-deco style. The renovated rooms, soon to be all, are in decent shape (especially when compared to dorms) and the common areas are kept relatively clean. As everyone has said, the maintenance staff is top-notch and will quickly fix any issue you have. There is always a doorman to accept packages and usually someone in the leasing office for any issues during business hours. There are only a few small changes I would make to the facility-1. There needs to be a computer system for notification of packages as such a system is a cheap, easy way to notify tenants of when they get mail. 2. The water temperature for the shower changes WILDLY and without notice which is a huge pain (literally!) as you can go from a comfortable 90F to 150F (1st degree burns!) or cold/ambient temperature perhaps 5-10 times in a 15 minute shower. Chestnut Hall needs a better water heater or something to fix this. 3. The freight elevator/trash chute area needs to be cleaned more regularly + the elevator oiled.Overall though, in comparison to a run-down Penn/Drexel dorm, Chestnut Hall is a much better facility to live in.The management: the management of Chestnut Hall has chosen to charge every single penny they can out of tenants for short-term profit at the cost of creating many a negative experience for tenants/a 1.5 star average review on Yelp which is a terrible long-term position. They did this to me in the following ways-1. I was quoted $1508 for my apartment when I looked at it, began the lease process. When I got to the contract a month later, it was $1536 instead. They know you aren't going to change your mind for $24, so they hit me with this BS move.2. Utilities, Utilities. Utilities.Chestnut Hall/their utility vendor ConServ absolutely gouges residents on utilities. They use several different strategies for this. Firstly, they use a "communal" system in which they just divide the total utilities of the building per resident/square foot. This system has many issues. It means that you are paying the utilities of the ~10 staff that live in the building, that Chestnut Hall is paying no utilities on any communal areas/leasing office/lobby etc. instead billing these to residents (very unusual), that you are paying for irresponsible residents who don't report leaking toilets, turn off lights, blast the heat, keep windows open in winter, etc., and that you effectively have no recourse to challenge utility charges as there are no individual meters to look at. Secondly, Chestnut Hall lies to potential tenants that the utilities will be "roughly $100/month". On average, my utilities were $200 and some months it was as high as $400. These ABSURDLY high utilities for a one bedroom apartment are the result of the communal system mentioned above and, in all likelihood, broken/fixed/crooked utility meters. Even with the communal system, the numbers simply do not add up with Chestnut Hall claiming to have monthly utilities of $250,000-$350,000. I have run maintenance for several large properties so I know that the actual figure for the building would be in the five digit range, not six+. This can only mean that either there are huge maintenance issues being overlooked (e.g. gas or water leak) or that someone has rigged the system.Thirdly,to add insult to injury, Chestnut Hall charges YOU for THEIR utility billing provider. In other words, they arranged to have ConServ pay PECO for electric, PGW for water+gas, the City of Philadelphia for trash+sewer, etc. out of convenience. There is nothing stopping Chestnut Hall from either having residents pay these utility providers directly or collecting the funds from residents and doing so themselves. Instead, out of convenience, they have chosen to have ConServ do it. This is their decesion, but they charge each resident the $15/month THEY are supposed to pay Conserv for said deal. Not only is this practice completely unprecedented in the renting market, it is truly adding insult to injury to have to pay for Chestnut Hall's administrative costs on top of a $400 utility bill.Fourthly, Chestnut Hall has the tendency to DOUBLE-BILL utility charges (claiming it was a mistake).3. Your deposit will NOT be returned-100% guaranteed! They charge $200 for painting, $100 for cleaning to EVERY tenant at move-out!FIX THE MANAGEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!